Northeast Tour

Sara Birmingham '15 and Olivia Gustafson '14, Tour Managers

The Chorus may not have gotten as much sun as on last year’s Southern Tour, but the Northeast brought its own set of fantastic experiences on this year’s ten-day spring break tour.

We kicked off our tour in Albany, thanks to connections of Emily Sleasman ’14. We were able to get a tour of New York’s State Capitol, and performed for an impressive audience in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. We then headed to Boston, exploring Quincy Market and Boston’s North Side before our concert and first Endowment Drive reception, where we were able to mingle with many of our supportive alumnae. Up next was Hartford, CT, where we performed in a church whose furnace had broken earlier that day. Our audience was kind enough to shiver through the 50 degree performance all the way to the end, and afterwards we all warmed up with a dinner provided by the family of Laura Powis ’16.

We were then able to spend two days in New York City—the first time for several of our members—and give an amazing performance at the beautiful St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral to an astounding number of alumnae. A free day in the city followed, allowing us time to see the sights and recuperate, and many of us were able to visit the 9/11 Memorial free of charge thanks to alumna Allison Bailey.

After NYC, we headed to Princeton for a joint concert with the Princeton High School Women’s Choir. The family of Erin Goers ’13 graciously hosted us for a quick dinner in between bouts of Jersey traffic. From there, we headed to DC to visit former director Scott Tucker for a performance at the Falls Church Episcopal, thanks to Julie Huang ’06. We were able to enjoy our largest reception and enthusiastic support of the Endowment Drive amongst so many Cornell alumni. Finally, we headed to State College, PA to sing with two women’s choirs at Penn State University. We all stayed at State College Presbyterian Church together overnight for one final bonding experience before heading back to Ithaca.

Tour was musically, organizationally, and financially rewarding for the Chorus, and being around so many alumnae made the trekking so worthwhile. We feel very lucky to have braved the rain and snow with many of you, and to have made some remarkable music along the way.